Best underwater camera of 2021

10 Best Underwater cameras Compilation Chart

Name	Features	Where to Buy
Olympus Tough TG-6	Lens: 25-100mm f/2.0-4.9 \| Waterproof: 15m \| Freezeproof: -10ºC	Get It From Amazon
Nikon Coolpix W300	Lens: 24-120mm \| Waterproof: 30m \| Freezeproof: -10°	Get It From Amazon
Panasonic Lumix FT7 / TS7	Lens: 28-128mm \| Waterproof: 31m \| Freezeproof: -10°C	Get It From Amazon
Fujifilm FinePix XP130	Lens: 28-140mm \| Waterproof: 20m \| Freezeproof: -10°C	Get It From Amazon
Ricoh WG-60	Lens: 28-140mm \| Waterproof: 14m \| Freezeproof: -10°Cd	Get It From Amazon
GoPro Hero 8 Black	Waterproof: 10m \| Monitor: 2-inch touchscreen	Get It From Amazon
GoPro HERO7 Black	GoPro HERO7 Black – E-Commerce Packaging – Waterproof Digital Action Camera with Touch Screen 4K HD Video 12MP Photos Live Streaming Stabilization	Get It From Amazon
Panasonic LUMIX	Panasonic LUMIX Waterproof Digital Camera Underwater Camcorder with Optical Image Stabilizer, Time Lapse, Torch Light and 220MB Built-In Memory	Get It From Amazon
Sony RX100 VII	Sony RX100 VII Premium Compact Camera with 1.0-type stacked CMOS sensor (DSCRX100M7)	Get It From Amazon
Canon G7 XIII	Canon G7x Mark II Digital Camera Bundle + Canon PowerShot g7 x Mark II Deluxe Accessory Kit – Including to Get Started	Get It From Amazon

Introduction

Compact cameras are some of the best cameras for shooting underwater, as they are often easy to learn, easy to dive and travel with, and less expensive than their SLR counterparts, while still yielding outstanding image results and fast shooting speeds. Backscatter compiles this guide every year to eliminate the hassle and headache of trying to pick the best compact camera and underwater housing for your photo and video needs. Whether you are just getting started with underwater photography or are already an experienced image maker looking for the latest compact rig, this roundup of the best current compact cameras for underwater photography is the best resource online to find the perfect underwater camera.

Welcome to our review of the best underwater camera. Not all cameras can be used underwater, so when searching for a camera to be used underwater, it’s best you search for the best. To make your search easier, we’ve researched, tested, and reviewed 6 of the best underwater cameras available in the market today.

Best Buyers Guide

Shutter delay: Compact cameras all have an unmistakable deferral from the minute that you press the shutter button until the picture is caught. This shutter speed changes as indicated by the jump camera models. This shutter lag can be baffling when shooting moving articles, for example, fish and other natural life on the grounds that the subject may have moved from the minute you squeezed the shutter button. Attempt to choose a model with the most limited shutter speed conceivable. Top of the line minimal cameras have improved significantly and had a low screen slack.

Raw files: The submerged scuba cameras, for the most part, produce various sorts of picture documents. In the event that you don’t plan to alter your submerged photographs in Photoshop or another altering program, shooting in JPEG is great. In the event that you intend to alter your pictures, consider choosing a submerged camera that produces RAW documents, which are uncompressed records that hold however much information as could reasonably be expected, which is an important credit with regards to altering your pictures.

The number of pixels: Try not to succumb to the promotion around the million-pixel race. Multiplying the number of pixels doesn’t double the resolution of your pictures yet expands it by about 40%. Going from 8 MP to 10 MP builds your resolution by just 8%. Different perspectives are progressively significant, for example, the size of the sensor which is a vastly improved marker of the nature of the pictures. That is the reason a 10-megapixel advanced SLR creates preferable picture quality over a 10-megapixel camera. Every individual pixel is bigger, records more data, and consequently creates a greatly improved picture quality.

Best Underwater Camera in Picture Quality

GoPro Hero 8 Black

On specs alone, the GoPro Hero 8 Black offers just a humble update on the Hero 7 Black, which is as yet an outstanding underwater camera in its own right. Dive further, however, and you’ll discover the Hero 8 Black is more streamlined than its ancestor, twice as shockproof and outfitted with another breeze safe mouthpiece.

Low-light picture preparing is better than anyone might have expected – uplifting news for the individuals who visit the dinky profundities – while HyperSmooth 2.0 adjustment is superb and four computerized zoom lengths should make subject exchanging a snap adrift. What truly separates the Hero 8 Black from its forerunner is the approach of Mods, a scope of extra improvements.

Of the three reported up until this point, the waterproof Light Mod, fit for anticipating 200 lumens onto anything inside 1m, ought to have jumpers going after their waterproof wallets.

Pros	Cons
Superb image stabilization	Could be better in low light
Stills quality trumped by smartphones

Olympus Tough TG-6

Olympus’ Tough line of underwater cameras has apparently the most grounded notoriety here, and the organization has kitted its latest TG-6 model with highlights unequivocally towards the top-notch end of the scale. raw shooting? Check. 4K video? That’s right, that as well. GPS? Damnation yes. Indeed, even a similar preparing motor as the OM-D E-M1 X mirrorless model highlights here.

Together with a focal point that has the greatest gap of f/2 at the wide end and a pile of close-concentrating treats, what’s more, the underwater camera is absolutely prepared for all way of a land-based and submerged button. We do wish Olympus had moved things along somewhat further from what we found in the previous TG-5, in any case, which was our past top pick and not excessively unlike what we have here.

We’re simply completing our full survey and keeping in mind that we can see it being a more grounded model, the TG-5 would, in any case, be a fine decision in case you’re on a more tightly spending plan.

Pros	Cons
4K rather than Full HD video	No electronic viewfinder
Raw shooting is a bonus

Nikon Coolpix W300

The Coolpix W300 comes completely stacked with a large group of highlights – there’s 4K video first off, a stupendous GPS framework, an intelligent world guide, and Wi-Fi availability, in addition to an altimeter and submerged profundity check for sure.

The W300 additionally offers a high resolution, 921k dab OLED screen, yet maybe generally noteworthy of everything is that the W300 can work down to a profundity of 30 meters – to the extent, an Advanced Open Water plunging testament will get you.

Pros	Cons
Waterproof down to 30m	Fiddly controls
Wide zoom range

Panasonic Lumix FT7 / TS7

Panasonic’s new Lumix TS7 (called the Lumix FT7 outside the US) is the most recent underwater camera here. Rather than Olympus, which decreased the resolution of its TG-5, Panasonic has gone the other course, expanding the pixel include from 16.1MP in the TS5/FT5 to 20.4MP in the Lumix TS7/FT7. Focal point inclusion continues as before as its forerunner, with a 4.6x zoom extend that covers 28-128mm, yet curiously, the focal point loses its Leica marking.

The Lumix TS7/FT7 has something interesting for an underwater camera: an implicit electronic viewfinder (EVF). The 1,170k-speck, 0.2-inch display probably won’t be the biggest out there, yet it offers a helpful option in contrast to shooting with the back presentation, particularly in brilliant light, which can make piece precarious.

There are parcels to like about the Lumix TS7/FT7, including its phenomenal extreme qualifications yet is let somewhere near a sensor that packs such a large number of pixels onto a moderately little region.

Pros	Cons
Waterproof down to 31m	No raw capture
Image smoothing at high ISOs

Best Underwater Camera in Price

Fujifilm FinePix XP130

Contrasted with its ultra-rough rivalry, the FinePix XP130 doesn’t have incredible same accreditation. That implies that it probably won’t be very up to taking care of extraordinary experiences, however, it’s still more than capable of a family beach or skiing occasion.

There are a large group of fun channels included, and Wi-Fi availability, yet no GPS. Easy to utilize, this is an incredible alternative in case you’re after a strong simple to use a minimized camera for family use. It’s since been prevailing by the XP140, however, this model survives from better worth.

Pros	Cons
Affordable	No GPS included
Imadge smoothing at high ISOs

Ricoh WG-60

The WG-60 from Ricoh has some truly solid extreme accreditations – it’s waterproof to a profundity of 14m/45.9ft and shockproof from a fall of up to 1.6m/5.2ft, while it ought to withstand a power of up to 100kg/220lbs. It’s likewise dust-proof and can work in temperatures down to – 10°C/14°F.

The 5x optical zoom has a truly wide central zoom go, from 28-140mm, while there are six LED large scale lights specked around the front of the focal point barrel to convey brilliant and formally dressed lighting around your subject – perfect when shooting submerged subjects.

The full-scale lights likewise give other valuable capacities, for example, the LED Lighting mode, that utilizes the lights for adding light to pictures in poor light – it ought to convey a more complimenting look than the WG-60’s committed flash.

Pros	Cons
Good zoom range	JPEG only
Small and low-res

GoPro HERO7 Black

No other camera comes close when looking for ultimate wide angle video from the smallest package possible. The new Hypersmooth stabilization featdure gives video clips buttery-smooth stability for a graceful, cinematic quality. The 4K 60p video image quality packs the best contrast, clarity, and color that we’ve seen yet from GoPro, especially when paired with flip filter In fact, the GoPro Hero7 Black is the onldy camera in this review capable of shooting 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.

The camera also has some fun creative features and shooting modes to use for creating interesting stories and compelling shots, such as time lapse modes and Time Warp mode. Time Warp is a new feature that adds image stabilization to video time-lapse for smooth camera movement while shooting a time-lapse with a moving camera.

While the lack of strobe synchronization prevents it from being a practical still photograph camera, the video strengths of the GoPro HERO7 Black more than make up for it. There are still some limitations for macro due to lack of field of view options accessible inside the housing, but we’ve developed workaround strategies that still make it possible.

Pros	Cons
The simplest way to shoot 4K 60p video	Better color, contrast and clarity underwater
Better color, contrast and clarity underwater

Panasonic LUMIX

Thanks to the large sensor, image quality is excellent and comparable to other 1-inch sensor cameras. Where the Panasonic stands out is the highly customizable control set, accurate manual white balance, and 4K 30p video capability. The control set of the panasonic LX10 stands out as being more customizable than it’s rivals and can be set up closer to the shooting style of a mirrorless or SLR camera. The biggest advantage is being able to set up autofocus on the back of the camera (function button 1 is our favorite for this) and separate autofocus from

What really makes this a great all-around camera is the 4K video and ability to execute an accurate custom white balance at depth. Executing a manual white balance is a simple 3 button push and can be assigned one of 4 custom white balance banks making it easy to save different settings for shooting with video lights or at depth.

The Panasonic LX10 excels in every area for a camera. Excellent image quality, 4K video, accurate white balance, and a control set that reminds us more of an SLR than a dcompact camera makes this the best advanced compact camera of the year. If you are a stills shooter, a video shooter, or do both.

Pros	Cons
Excellent image quality, for both stills and video	No manual flash control
4K video with stabilization

Sony RX100 VII

Because of the insane zoom power (twice that of any other camera in this review) found in the 200mm lens, this camera is our top pick for shooting both topside and underwater. When not in a housing, a super zoom lens like this is ideal for capturing birds in flight, concerts, or any time you need to close some serious distance between you and a subject. This is awesome when you need just one camera to shoot both topside and underwater, and that is our favorite aspect of this camera.

The big improvement is in autofocus. Sony has taken the autofocus tracking from their top of the line mirrorless cameras and implemented it in the Sony RX100 For anyone who has ever used those focus systems can attest that it is a game-changer. Simply point the focus squarely on what you want in the frame to be in focus, half-press the shutter, then the camera will track that object as it moves through the frame. This is great for close focus wide angle shots where the depth of field tends to be thin or tracking a fish for a portrait-style shot.

The 200mm lens makes underwater super macro viable when an additional macro lens is added on. Previous RX100 cameras struggled with macro capability with shorter lenses and no macro mode. The Sony RX100 VII Still does not have a macro mode but the capabilities for super macro will rival that of an SLR when used with a strong macro diopter. It’s not the easiest camera to shoot for super macro because of the extremely limited depth of field, and also the limited distance range that results from using a strong diopter. For super macro, a strong diopter in the +10 to +12 range will get you tight on the smallest critters of the reef but will have a razor-thin depth of field.

Manual white balance has been improved for 4K video color, but the limits of the underwater ambient light white balance seem to be in the 30-40 foot range. This is a little shallower than some of our other picks on this list. Video with lights look great, so if you prefer shooting with video lights to ambient you’ll be very pleased.

Pros	Cons
Video quality is excellent	Manual white balance limit is about 35 feet
24-200mm lens alldows super tight macro

Canon G7 XII

The G7X series from Canon has consistently been our top pick for best manual white balance color. While we absolutely love the color produced by the camera when executing a custom white balance for video, the process to do so is the most convoluted and requires the most button activations (10+) out of any camera in this review. The 1” sensor produces a beautiful 20.1 megapixel still image with great image quality, and if using this camera as purely a still shooter then there is little doubt the user will be pleased with the photo results. Similar to the Sony LX100 VII and Panasonic the user must swap between dedicated ports for macro and wide angle, preventing in-water shooting style swaps.

Full camera review and sample images coming Summer 2020.

Pros	Cons
Image quality in both wide angle and macro is vibrant and sharp	Short port required for wide angle accessory lens
Manual flash exposure option for rapid fire shooting

Conclusion

We hope you have enjoyed this in-depth survey of the underwater compact camera. It’s that level of expertise that we put into this annual roundup of compact cameras so that we can share with you what we’ve learned, and why we recommend certain cameras over others. Please support the development of more content like this by purchasing your gear from us.

If you’ve read this review, then it implies you’re searching for the best underwater cameras to buy. The underwater cameras we’ve reviewed above are durable, comes with top-notch features, and sharp picture quality. Be that as it may, if you’ve found one or two above that you’ll like to buy, ensure you check all the necessary details of your preferred choice above before purchasing.